Civil society in Moldova will be more actively involved in the country’s EU integration process

On 15 May 2023, The Independent Think-Tank Expert-Grup as the main partner, in partnership with the Institute for European Policies and Reforms (IPRE), the Institutum Virtutes Civilis (IVC) and the “Friedrich Ebert” Foundation launched the project “Civil Society for European Integration”, financed by the European Union and co-financed by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.

15 civil society organisations from the 5 development regions of the country will receive grants worth EUR 20,000 each. Beneficiary organisations were selected through an open tender, to which 40 proposals were sent. In the coming months, CSOs involved in the project will be trained and mentored to monitor public budgets at central and local levels and develop independent budget analyses, helping to ensure a transparent, efficient, and aligned budget process to the priorities of the association agenda.

The launch event presented the main objectives of the project, which are to strengthen CSOs’ capacities to support and promote the alignment of budget priorities with the Europeanization agenda at the national and local levels, but also to increase the involvement of the platforms of civil society organisations, so that they act cohesively and provide the necessary support in the implementation of the conditionalities related to the EU candidate status of the Republic of Moldova 

At the opening of the event, Jānis Mažeiks, the Ambassador of the European Union to the Republic of Moldova, sstated “Granting of the EU candidate status to the Republic of Moldova represents a new Chapter in the EU-Moldova relations and a beginning of the transformation of the Moldovan society on the path to the EU membership. On this path, supporting an enabling environment for civil society will continue to be one of the key priorities for the EU as we strongly believe in the fundamental role the civil society plays in helping the country to reach our common European values and standards.”

The project “Civil Society for European Integration” is implemented during the period January 2023- June 2025, by the Independent Think-Tank Expert-Grup, as the main partner, in consortium with Institute for European Policies and Reforms (IPRE), AO Institutum Virtutes Civilis (IVC) and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, financed by the European Union and co-financed by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.